On August 15th, 916 Ink will be holding a Zine release party at the La Familia Counseling Center on 5523 34th Street from 5-7PM. Prior to this event, 916 Ink held a two-week creative writing workshop that was open to youth of all ages.

The release party is centered around the newly printed “zine” titled, “Choose Your Own Sacramento”.

A “zine”, also known as a fanzine is a small, noncommercial magazine written around one specific topic. In this case, youth writers wrote specifically on a “choose your own adventure” story through Sacramento and it’s neighborhoods.

916 ink is a program that promotes literacy to a wide variety of youth writers in the Sacramento county. Headed by a group of creative individuals,, the program aims to engage and empower the youth to pursue literature and the arts. The program has served over 800 kids, ranging from kindergarten to high school level. 916 ink has successfully published over 25 books, from comics to poetry books.

Two other books, both funded by the BHC and supported by 916 ink, are set to be released in the near future as well. One, named Maxed Out, was written by youth in Detention. The book features over 30 teens that are held in the maximum security unit of the Youth Detention Center. Due to their circumstances, however, a book release event was not allowed.

No matter the kid, 916 ink encourages and promotes literacy within the youth in order to empower them. Yehuda Berg, an author, once said, “Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.”

On November 11th, 2011, The Atlantic reported that approximately “One Year of Prison Costs More Than One Year at Princeton” The facts were shocking: one year at Princeton University costs $37,000, while one year in a New Jersey state prison cost nearly $44,000.

Because of the fact, a new prop has been created in California, named Proposition 47, also called the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Initiative”. It aims to decrease the sentence of non-violent criminals that are convicted of felonies, giving them misdemeanors in order to give schools more funding.

Supporters include the California Democratic Party, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, and rapper Jay Z.

In order to be a participant of Proposition 47, the convicted must have a clean history without violent or serious crimes.

The Initiative is set to:

-Mandate misdemeanors instead of felonies for “non-serious, nonviolent crimes that may include petty theft or drug possession.

-Allow re-sentencing to an estimated 10,000 inmates for any offence that is on the misdemeanors list.

– Give a thorough review and risk assessment of any convicted persons that are given a chance at re-sentencing in order to assure they do not pose as a danger to the public.

-Create and distribute new funds for safe neighborhoods and schools.

As of May 6th, SFGate reports over 800,000 signatures in support of the initiative, 587,806 being valid. Supporters state that by reducing the felony rate and prison population, the state could save approximately a billion dollars in just five years. NBC San Diego reports that an estimated $150 million to $250 million would be saved, giving more funding to schools and mental health programs.

In a recent concert, Jay Z mentions Proposition 47, stating “Prop 47, California: Build more schools, less prisons,” before performing one of his early singles, “Hard Knock Life”, also known as the “Ghetto Anthem”.

Convicted criminals who commit a crime that is included in the list of eligible misdemeanors are given a chance at a reduced sentence. Set inmates are given a chance at resentencing as well.

The list of crimes that are mandated to become misdemeanors instead of felonies are as follows:

-Possession of a narcotic drug.

-Possession of a concentrated cannabis.

-Crimes that do not exceed the value of $950:

-Shoplifting

-Forgery

-Theft

-Fraud

As of June 27th, there has been no opposition that has campaigned against Proposition 47. The initiative is scheduled to appear on the California ballot on November 4th as an initiative statute.

There is no true definition to the word “Willful Defiance”, however the term is loosely based on any kind of suggested insubordination and “misconduct” of a student. There is no true or standardized basis on the term, therefore making it an open slate for those who use willful defiance as a reason of suspension. According to WitnessLA.com, California schools suspend more students than graduates, more than 400,000 students are sent home due to misbehavior annually in California.

Willful defiance can range from a simple swear word uttered in class, to a transgender students refusal to following gender-appropriate dress regulation set by the administration.

Throughout the years, willful defiance has gone under controversy due to the disproportionate use of the subjective term used for punishment statewide aimed towards students of African-American and Latino origin. As of 2012-2013, Willful defiance accounts for less than 6 percent of expulsions statewide; however, it also accounts for 43 percent of all suspensions statewide as well.

A huge wave of change is on it’s way regarding Willful Defiance. After more than five months of negotiations, Governor Jerry Brown, with the help from advocates of less damaging disciplinary policies, has compromised on a new and revolutionary bill that would limit all California school’s power regarding willful defiance.

Under the newfound bill, students cannot be expelled for being willfully defiant or disruptive during school hours and events.

Last year, a similar bill regarding willful defiance was issued and passed by the assembly and senate. However, it was ultimately vetoed by the governor who believed that the decision to change willful defiance should be in the hands of local administrators.

“In California, the move to alternative disciplinary policies and eliminating willful defiance as a reason for expelling or suspending students has been growing since I began covering it three years ago. The agreement Dickinson said he reached with Jerry Brown is a big step because the governor had been opposing changing state law and state law cannot be changed without his support.” Susan Frey, a writer at EdSource states.

Throughout the years, a couple of districts such as Los Angeles Unified and San Francisco Unified have eliminated the category of willful defiance as a reason for suspension or expulsion. The trend of positive disciplinary conduct is spreading not only statewide, but nationwide. As momentum builds, the idea and term “willful defiance” will soon be eliminated both statewide and nationwide.

The bill, named Assembly Bill 420, is currently going under work, being rewritten to reflect amendments. It will be presented to the Senate in August. To read the bill, click here.

On Wednesday, July 23rd, the community of South Sacramento and the Sacramento Building Healthy Communities Initiative came together at Rainbow Park to celebrate the BHC and it’s milestones achieved. The BHC also aimed to bring out the local community in order to educate the people on the inner workings of their community.

On July 31st, the California Endowment, joined by the Sacramento BHC, held a Systems Change Workshop in the Serna Center, also known as the Sacramento City Unified School District Office. The workshop was aimed to educate participants on the meaning and definition of “systems” and “systems change”. Participants ranged from a variety of backgrounds, from youth development to community engagement.

916 Ink will be hosting a Jr. High Magazine Workshop on July 7th-18th, 10:00AM-12:PM at the La Familia Counseling Center, 5523 34th Street. The goal of the workshop is to create a “zine”, also known as a magazine. With the help of comic book writer, Eben E.B. Burgoom, the writer of “B Squad” and “Eben 07”, the workshop is aimed to be a hit.

The workshop is open to all junior high students interested in creative writing. It is also emphasized that those who are interested do not have to have experience in writing to attend the workshop, the event is open to all.

“The program is aimed to be a Choose Your Own Adventure styled book that will take place in Sacramento. We’re really going to focus on making a short Choose Your Own Adventure-themed book. Each student will ideally get a shot at creating their own micro-CYOA style story that will fit into the over-arching book.” Says Burgoon.

916 ink is a program that promotes literacy to all ages in the Sacramento area. It is headed by a group of creative individuals who strive to spread literacy to all of Sacramento. They aim to engage and empower the youth through literature and arts. The program has served over 800 kids in K-12 programs and has successfully published over 25 books. The literature that the kids produce range from poetry to comic book writing.

Published in the Spring of 2104, Stumbling Through Stars is a book that contains a collection of poetry and prose, with advice for budding writers as well.

916 ink has released books such as the one published in the Spring of 2014, known as, Stumbling Through The Stars, a book that features a collection of poetry and prose, in addition to advice for all budding writers and the magic of creative writing.

The event will run from July 7th-18th from 10AM-12Pm. It will be held at the LA Familia Counseling Center at 5523 34th Street, Sacramento, CA.

If you or anyone you know is interested in joining this workshop, please RSVP with Griselda Loza at (916) 452-3601

On July 17th from 6PM-8PM, the African American Women’s Health Legacy host their monthly mentoring and women’s empowerment workshop. There will also be a huge collection of vendors and an item swap.

The African American Women’s Health Legacy, also known as AAWHL, has been working many years to promote education of health and leadership skills to women of color. In 2009, the University of California San Francisco found that while the population of African American females in Sacramento is only 8% of the total population, 15% of those women have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Many are left untreated and unhelped due to the high cost of medical attention. The AAWHL aims to help, educate, and empower those women.

The goal of the workshop is to promote health while making connections within the community. They also aim to educate the public on self-management, family relationships, physical fitness, and proper diets.

The women of AAWHL strive to educate the people of the dangers of sugar and the benefits of a proper, healthy diet.

Through AAWHL, women of all ethnicities and color have been meeting and discussing the life of themselves, their children, and their communities. They aim to change the negative connotations of their community, promoting higher education and healthy lifestyle practices for themselves and their families. As a voice of the community, these women welcome you to come and share opinions of your own.

The event is open to all women of color and is located at the Brickhouse Gallery on 2837 34th Street. For more information, please call: Toni Colley-Perry at 916-519-9189

Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, was passed and signed in to law in the spring of 2010. It aimed to reform the American healthcare system and give citizens access to more affordable quality health insurance. Many citizens of various class and ethnicities began to apply and receive affordable health care. However, one immense and crucial population of people were left out from Obamacare…undocumented immigrants.

On Thursday, June 19th, the Zero Tolerance Youth Program celebrated the end of their 2013-2014 year. The Zero Tolerance Youth Program is a program that has been around since 2011, and promotes leadership skills and communication to students citywide.

The goal of the program is to turn students into leaders; to help them step out of their comfort zones and speak out on what’s important.

“I realised that I affected the community, even though I was just a freshman starting High School. It is possible to affect your community…no matter how small the effect,” says Ryan White, one of the oldest members now graduating from the program as he reflects on his journey as a member of the Zero Tolerance Youth Program.

The Zero Tolerance Youth Program mainly focuses on the injustices that occur in the school environment. Zero Tolerance programs in schools are widely known and criticised for being too harsh and unfair. In a study conducted by The Vera Institute of Justice, a majority of suspensions and expulsions are for insubordination, or ‘willful defiance’. The injustice occurs greatly in schools nationwide. And it is even worse for black and latino youth, who are suspended nearly 2-4 times more than students of caucasian descent. The Zero Tolerance programs were created in order to respond to students caught with a weapon of any kind on school grounds. However, in recent years, only 5 percent of students nationwide were suspended or expelled involving the possession of a weapon, while 43 percent is associated with insubordination.

The facts of zero tolerance and its effect on the national scale.

The Zero Tolerance Youth Leadership team has conducted and performed many speeches, performances, presentations, and legislative talks on the condition of punishment procedures done in schools. Last year, the Zero Tolerance Youth Leadership team collected over 15,000 signatures to Governor Jerry Brown in order to fight the zero tolerance youth program. They urged for a change in discipline utilized in schools, and asked for a law to be passed in order to make teachers no longer able to use “willful defiance” as a reason to suspend or expel a student.

The program also helped produce The Cornerstone Theater Company’s production of “Talk it Out: A Community Conversation to Fix School Discipline”. The production was a short play that was based on the real experiences of Sacramento students and their experiences in the school environment. During intermission, sessions were inducted to incite constructive feedback and opinions from the parents who watched the performance.

It turns out that most parents were shocked and surprised to see such treatment going on in schools. The parents were ill informed and unaware of the treatment that their students faced in the classroom.

“These are real issues that we face as students,” says Erik Harrell, another graduating senior of the program states on the condition of punishment in schools.

On April 17, 2012, the City Council of Vallejo, California approved the first annual city wide Participatory Budgeting Project in the United States. With $3.4 million and vast ideas from the citizens, the Vallejo Participatory Budgeting Project gave residents and business owners the freedom to choose and create projects for the community to be funded. More than 800 ideas for projects were pitched, and 36 showed up on the ballot. Residents who were 16 and older had the opportunity to vote on these 36 projects the following year.

Those who received the most votes got to split the $3.4 million to fund projects such as park benches, community gardens, and more.

But what is Participatory Budgeting?

Participatory budgeting, or PB for short, is a different, yet effective way to distribute money that is well needed in the community. PB was first developed in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1989 and since then, over 1,500 cities around the world participate in PB.

The process of Participatory Budgeting is as follows:

1) Citizens come together in small neighborhood assemblies and brainstorm ideas to pitch to the community. Ideas range from fixing roads to community gardens, scholarships, and more.

2) Citizens narrow down the list of ideas, choosing the best ideas for volunteer budget delegates to make into projects, or proposals to present to the citizens to vote on.

3) These ideas are then put on a ballot for citizens to vote on. Whichever idea gets the most votes ultimately gets funded by PB.

PB is a great way to engage and assemble the community to ultimately better itself. There are six different angles and benefits where in PB stands that engages citizens to participate.

Deeper Democracy, where in everyday citizens get a chance to let their voice be heard. They get a say in the city and an actual chance to make a political decision, something that most citizens do not have. This also means that the people create a better trust within their local politicians and government.

Transparency and Accountability, where in the citizens know and see where the money is being spent. This leads to a reduction in opportunities for waste and corruption.

Public Education, where in participants of PB get a deeper knowledge into the world of politics. They become more active and informed citizens who learn about true democracy through the process of PB. Citizens also get a deeper understanding of community issues and complex political issues concerning their city.

Informed Decision, where in decisions on the budget are given to the citizens, who have a deeper understanding of their community and environment.

Fair Spending, where in all citizens and participants are given the equal opportunity to vote on what they want. When citizens spend time to discuss community issues, the real issues of the community stand out, giving the citizens knowledge on the true issues that need to be changed.

Community Building, where in citizens get a chance to socialize with other fellow citizens. This leads to a stronger bond in the community and ultimately a deeper connection within the city.

“The city of Vallejo has just exited bankruptcy in 2011…we have a real stigma and negative image of the city and PB has really helpful in trying to improve the image of the city,” says Marti Brown, a former Vallejo Council member a champion of PB. “Since then there has been a huge shift in peoples minds about the city and the people who live there…it’s great to have something good to talk about with the city.”

PB gives the citizens the power over real money that can be spent for the community. Because of PB, the definition of true democracy has changed.

Participatory Budgeting participants in Porto Alegre, Brazil

“The thing about PB is that you are giving control to the public. There is great possibility here.” -Marti Brown